Find Money You Forgot About With This Weekend Decluttering Project — Weekend Projects

I have an impressive pile of cards in the back of my top desk drawer. They’re almost a Rolodex of my life for the past decade, with cards ranging from Macy’s gift cards given to us for our wedding to old insurance cards to local yogurt bar loyalty cards. I can’t just throw these cards out—they hold not only memories (especially when I’ve held on to them for this long!) but the possibility of hidden money. And now is the time of year where we could all use a little bit of surprise money.

Even if you don’t have quite the collection I do, this weekend’s project is a bit of a double feature for our homes and our wallets: We’re going to do a bit of organizing and decluttering, and hopefully come away uncovering a bit of hidden money, too.

Apartment Therapy Weekend Projects is a guided program designed to help you get the happy, healthy home you’ve always wanted, one weekend at a time. Sign up now for email updates so you never miss a lesson.

5. Record gift card balances

As you find out the balance left on each card, record it. The Gyft app does this nicely and keeps track of your balances going forward. Bonus: You’ll always have your gift cards with you at the store and will actually use them! If you want to keep the originals, write the balance and the date on the back in permanent marker.

6. Deal with other cards

Once you’ve gotten loyalty and gift cards taken care of, it’s time to deal with the rest of the pile. It may contain old credit or debit cards, pre-paid gift cards (hang on to those; you can use them), and more. Deal with each one, working your way methodically down the stack.

7. When relevant, add cards to your mobile wallet

When it’s an option, you may want to consider adding your cards to your Apple wallet or Google Pay wallet. Do this for cards in your pile and even for less-used cards in your wallet. For cards that Apple and Google wallet don’t support, use Pass2U to have the cards show up in your wallet anyway (you can also use this for gift cards if you want). Think library card, city rec center cards, etc.

8. Make a plan for how to use your gift card money

You’ve whittled down your cards to a manageable and useful stack and, with any luck, you’ve unearthed a bit of spending cash. Make a plan for how to use this little windfall for your holiday shopping, either to pay for gifts entirely or to get a bit of a discount.

One more thing: We’re so close to the end of the year, which means that the January Cure kicks off soon. If you’re enjoying doing the weekend projects with us, you’ll love participating in the Cure, too. Sign up now!

You can catch up with weekend projects right here. Share your progress with us and others by posting updates and photos on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #atweekendproject.

Remember: This is about improvement, not perfection. Each week you can either choose to work on the assignment we’ve sent you, or tackle another project you’ve been meaning to get to. It’s also completely okay to skip a weekend if you’re busy or not feeling the assignment.

Welcome to pushup24.com

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sponsors for Needed Phoebe’s Pageant Fund

Phoebe was invited and attended an open call for National American Miss on May 18th. After being interview by the committee she was chosen as one of New Jersey's state finalist. Our next step for Phoebe to proceed is attaining sponsors. As we all know times are tough however, she would appreciate any amount you would be able to contribute. Phoebe is very excited to represent her state in August. The pageant goals are for her to gain poise and self-confidence, practice speaking in front of a live audience, and become actively involved in her community. All donations are tax deductible for businesses as an advertising expense. All sponsors will be listed in the state year book. Thank you for your time whether you chose to sponsor or not. The Armstead Family Help spread the word!